Help needed for weavers...

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Mon, 04/05/2010 - 9:01am

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Here is something I found on a blog and thought it would be worth a little of my time to post on Weavolution. I believe this to be true and worthy of consideration if anyone has an interest in helping. The contact info is below.

Last July my wife and I spent time in the high Andes Peruvian village of Ccaccaccollo. The women there are a major support of the village because of their weaving efforts. They engage in the entire process from Llama to loom.

In January, an earthquake coupled with unusually heavy rains caused mudslides in the area. Now this village has all 128 families living in tents and they lost 14 of the 18 looms in the community center when it was destroyed.

My wife and I are putting our efforts into this wonderful community so that they may recover as quickly as possible. It is in this spirit that you are receiving this e-mail.

We are hoping that one or more of you are in a position to be able to donate the loom that you no longer need to help these families recover. If you have a loom or know of a functioning loom east of the Mississippi, please let me know so that I can arrange for its pickup. (I am forced to narrow my search area because of my limited ability to pick up the item.)

Please consider this request. While the money from the sale of your loom might be nice, imagine what the donation to this village of 128 families would mean. If you can find it in your heart to participate in this effort, contact me at SoundingBoard4You@gmail.com

Thank you for your consideration of this effort.

And then:

My original intent was to get an RV and drive to Peru in the Spring of 2011 and do a 2 year commitment to help the village. But this mudslide has changed all that. I will be collecting as many looms as I can get and arrange to ship them to Peru. Although, if I get enough, it might be more cost effective to drive them down there - it's a 5000 mile trip. And I don't think it should wait until 2011.

Feel free to forward the request to anyone you know. I would love to be able to replace all 14 of their destroyed looms. But any at all will help them to recover.

Thank you for considering this and being willing to help!

My name is John E *************.

My home phone number is ******************. - although the best way to contact is through e-mail.

I am a Maryland District Court Commissioner.

My wife is a teacher with over 30 years in the Maryland Public School System.

We travelled to Ccaccaccollo Peru last July with an organization called GEEO and worked with the craftswomen and in the Elementary classrooms.

The contact at GEEO is Jesse Weisz and he can verify our identities and the plight of the village.

This is the contact information copied from their website www.geeo.org:

GEEO: Global Exploration for Educators Organization
125 Conway Ave
Narberth, PA 19072
USA

Call us toll-free 9AM-9PM EST, 7 days a week:

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 9:10am

francorios

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Joined: 06/08/2009

What kind of looms are you in

What kind of looms are you in need of? What size?

I see backstrap looms in the picture.

Have a good day!

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 9:11am

Alison

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Joined: 05/13/2009

Mary, Thanks for posting

Mary,

Thanks for posting this. I've been concerned about the damage caused by the earthquakes. I've also been watching the tragedy caused by the harsh winter on the yak and cashmere goat farmers in Mongolia and other places.

Please post this in the Charity Weaving group.

One thought - it sounds as though this person hopes to take floor looms down to Peru. Has anyone talked to him about what the Peruvian weavers need to get them back on their feet?

Alison

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 10:37am

mmmcarmo

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Joined: 01/01/2010

I think this part of the

I think this part of the article is explaining what they are wanting to do; which I feel is "doing the grunt work" on a project to help weavers who need looms to earn a living. How do you interpret it?

"We are hoping that one or more of you are in a position to be able to donate the loom that you no longer need to help these families recover. If you have a loom or know of a functioning loom east of the Mississippi, please let me know so that I can arrange for its pickup. (I am forced to narrow my search area because of my limited ability to pick up the item.)

SoundingBoard4You@gmail.com

Thank you for your consideration of this effort.

And then:

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 10:51am

Alison

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Joined: 05/13/2009

My concern is that they may

My concern is that they may take floor looms down there rather than supply the materials necessary for backstrap looms. They would have to learn how to use them and they can't do what they are doing now on a floor loom. Also, how many floor looms can handle tent living?

His goal of helping these people get back on their feet is wonderful. Does he have the weaving knowledge to do so? We may really be able to help him focus his efforts if a backstrap person talks with him. I also wonder if he has been in contact with Nilda.

Alison

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 12:43pm

Sara von Tresckow

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Joined: 05/29/2009

Looms are not looms.

Looms are not looms. Backstrap looms don't need a pickup truck to drive to Peru - it would be more than sufficient to collect the materials needed and have them distributed by someone locally who works in this tradition.

Someone trained in this type of backstrap weaving cannot switch to a Baby Wolf without a lot of retraining and the Baby Wolf might not be appropriate to the climate and project anyway.

As with many ideas with good intent, this one doesn't show much practical merit and I'd truly question what is being done and on what timeline.

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 1:25pm

francorios

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Joined: 06/08/2009

I sent an email to

I sent an email to SoundingBoard4You@gmail.com with those questions.

If I hear anything back, I will pass it to the group.

Have a good day!

Franco Rios

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 1:28pm

francorios

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Joined: 06/08/2009

Before I forget, that is a

Before I forget, that is a very nice picture of ladies on backstrap looms.

Does anybody recognize the clothes? What region would that be?

Have a good day!

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 1:35pm

ridinteacher

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Joined: 01/02/2010

go to crazyasaloom blogsite.

go to crazyasaloom blogsite. she had a blog entry about it the other day.

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 2:59pm

mmmcarmo

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Joined: 01/01/2010

Good idea, thanks! Maybe

Good idea, thanks! Maybe they'll join Weavolution and we'll all be on the same page:)

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 3:11pm

#10

francorios

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Joined: 06/08/2009

I did mention Weavolution in

I did mention Weavolution in my message to them.

Have a good day!

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 3:33pm

#11

Alison

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Joined: 05/13/2009

That is great Franco. I

That is great Franco. I hope this leads to some real help for these people.

Mary - thanks again for posting about this!

Alison

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 7:00pm

#12

mmmcarmo

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Joined: 01/01/2010

This is another picture from

This is another picture from the original post for the looms needed. Maybe not all backstrap?

You can see the post here: http://www.crazyasaloom.com/

Mon, 04/05/2010 - 7:20pm

#13

francorios

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Joined: 06/08/2009

Yep, the man named John

Yep, the man named John replied and sent me a copy of that picture.

Here is his reply:

I have no objections to posting my reply. I'm open to anything that will help this village.

John

On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 5:45 PM, Franco Rios <francorios2000@yahoo.com> wrote:

Thank you for your reply John.

Sounds like a plan. Would you mind if I posted your reply on Weavolution.com?

They are discussing your project.

You can join the discussion there

http://www.weavolution.com/node/8773

Have a good day!

Franco Rios

From: John <soundingboard4you@gmail.com>
To: Franco Rios <francorios2000@yahoo.com>
Sent: Mon, April 5, 2010 11:54:29 AM
Subject: Re: Regarding your request for looms

Franco,

Thank you for your interest and suggestions.

The women do use backstrap looms. But they use them now mostly for the tourists. They had a community center with floor looms that they used for their production work. There is an organization that helped them get all this started and taught them to use the floor looms. The mud slides ruined it all.

My thought was to get them the looms and have a large wall tent to house them until the village is rebuilt. But I understand that the community center will be among the first building to be rebuilt. Shipment of the looms will not take place until the community center is done.

One suggestion I had was to get the looms - sell the looms - and purchase local looms with the money. I have found out that looms are available locally at a good price and I'm trying to look at those logistics. That option would certainly be easier on me.

I have attached a picture (I hope) of some of their looms in the community center prior to the mud slides.

-end-

Help needed for weavers...

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